26th street low-income housing, santa monica, calif.

affordable / grand

After scrutinizing 26th Street, a judge offered the highest praise an architect of low-income housing could hope to hear: “It's one of the best projects we've seen, period, and the fact that it's affordable is amazing.” The judges applauded the way the large, bold façade breaks down to human scale. The warm brown clapboard siding, checkerboard pattern of shaded balconies, and colorful side walls make all residents feel like they have their own house.

To qualify for state tax credits, the entire project had to be designated residential, leaving Stephen Kanner, FAIA, with the task of figuring out how to buffer the ground-floor units facing a busy intersection. The solution was to give each street-edge apartment a private entry courtyard and wood-slat fencing. “The contractor cut cementitious panels into strips and screwed them to wood posts,” Kanner says. “This means they'll really last—they're very rigid and won't require endless maintenance.”

In back, a spacious courtyard and arty staircase tower create a welcoming portal for the other residents. Each unit enjoys cross-breezes, eliminating the need for air conditioning. And the building is a good neighbor: subterranean parking keeps cars off the street, dry wells collect and disperse rainwater, and the mural—a public art piece—gives it a human face.